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A62
sports
Guardian www.guardian.co.tt Wednesday, October 28, 2015
WALTER ALIBEY
Trinidad and Tobago foot-
ball will finally get a home of
its own. This was revealed by
president of the T&T Football
Association Raymond Tim Kee
at a press conference at the
Hasely Crawford Stadium yes-
terday.
Tim Kee who is bidding for
a second term in office at the
helm of the TTFA announced
that a new home for the sport
is one of his long term goals.
He explained that the land has
already been located at Union
Park in Marabella and he is only
awaiting final paperwork with
respect to the transfer of the
land from government to the
embattled football association
before they can call it their
home.
This venue will house a
number of football fields that
will be used by a football acad-
emy of the football association
and an office that will conduct
administrative work.
Tim Kee he is awaiting the
grant funding that regional
association receive from FIFA-
the world governing body for
football to start construction.
He told the media that
because of the problems being
faced by FIFA president Sepp
Blatter and the time frame by
which associations are given
the funds, he intends to collect
two tranches of US$500,000
which will be equivalent to
US$1 million to get work started
on building their football home.
In a near two-hour long
speech, Tim Kee painted a very
bleak picture when he inherited
the football association almost
four years ago, saying it had
108 creditors, $38 million in
debt and had lost the confi-
dence of corporate T&T.
He explained that his main
aim was to look after players
welfare and ensure that there
is good governance.
He was also hoping to rid
the association of debt and
therefore monies in the amount
of US$1.5 million that his asso-
ciation received from the FIFA,
was used to pay the players
from the 2006 World Cup
campaign.
The local football boss said
he also realised that there was
a need to focus on the product
football, which coincides with
his goal of looking after the
welfare of the players.
But as he sought good gov-
ernance practices, Tim Kee said
he had to make stern decisions
which made him look like a
dictator.
His achievements during the
past four years also included
major amendments to the con-
stitution which was critical
after FIFA decided to introduce
a normalisation committee to
run the affairs of T&T football,"
Tim Kee disclosed.
But he said that when he
heard this, he was able to con-
vince them that there are a
number of business people in
T&T who would not accept
that.
FIFA s acceptance of Tim
Kee s plight led to the forma-
tion of an Independent Reform
Commission which was headed
by former West Indies wick-
etkeeper Deryck Murray and
comprised Elton Prescott, Brian
Lewis, Sheila Rampersad,
Dinanath Ramnarine and
Patrick Raymond among oth-
ers, who had the responsibility
of reforming the constitution.
According to Tim Kee, when
the constitution was done, it
was sent for approval and
adjustments by the FIFA.
"Some of the highlights of
this constitution were that
clubs representative would have
a say in the voting process and
that no president would sit in
office for more than two terms"
Tim Kee said.
He said: "My aim was to
democratise football" and made
it clear "football does not
belong to the TTFA."
Tim Kee concludes his first
term with a number of achieve-
ments under his belt such as
the elevation of both men and
women s teams on the world
rankings, the development of
a successful beach football team
which defeated CONCACAF
giants Mexico last week and
key changes in the constitution
which allows for a more dem-
ocratic process.
But his main achievement to
date has been the performances
of the Soca Warriors team
which will head into the World
Cup qualifiers soon, following
a series of impressive perform-
ances under coach Stephen
Hart.
The Canadian born coach,
Tim Kee said was recruited
courtesy the assistance of Leo
Beenhakker, who recommended
him at an international friendly
match against Romania two
years ago.
SEAN NERO
Sports Minister Darryl Smith has picked up
where his predecessor Brent Sancho left off,
demanding that the T&T Football Association
(TTFA) must have audited accounts to qualify
for tax-payer funds.
The minister did not specify which period audit-
ed accounts from the national football body was
outstanding. And, he wants national sporting
organisations (NSOs) to tempter their expectations
with regard to funding over the next year, citing
that national revenue from energy remains very
low. During an interview with the Trinidad
Guardian, he said, the Raymond Tim Kee-led
NSO must be financially compliant or funding
from the state would eventually, become a chal-
lenge. However, the minister went on to declare
that the TTFA was not the only governing body
for sport that had been failing in this regard.
"I have been meeting with two (national) gov-
erning bodies a day. TTFA was one of them. The
Sport Company of T&T (executive manager) Mr.
Anthony Creed is in charge of the TTFA. I ve
made it crystal clear that everyone must have all
their paperwork, their annual general meetings,
all their accounts in compliance before we move
forward with funding. It s sad that the ministry
of sport has to get involved with regards to paying
direct to suppliers and I m not just talking (about)
TTFA. I am talking overall in sport. We should be
channeling our energy on our policy, but now here
we are. We have to pay suppliers. Our accounting
department has to be dealing with that," he said.
Smith continued, "The government, as you
could see, has tightened its belt. So if they (NSOs)
haven t gotten the message yet, it s not just tight-
ening its belt. It s being compliant. We can t have
wastage. We can t have mismanagement. I have
said from day one that our focus is on the athletes
and the young people of T&T and the youth.
Remember, youth is part of the ministry again
and I have been focusing on that. Again, the
national governing bodies have to ensure they are
compliant and leave the politics out of it and
ensure that they have the best interest of sports
at heart."
DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMI-
RATES---West Indies captain Jason
Holder has moved up three places
to a career-best 49th in the latest
ICC Test Player Rankings accord-
ing to a news release yesterday.
Holder s marginal climb was as
a result of two wickets he took in
the West Indies losing effort
against Sri Lanka in the final test
which ended on Sunday.
His West Indian team mate,
pacer Jerome Taylor also moved
up three places to 21 after bagging
four wickets in the two test match-
es against Sri Lanka.
Meantime, England s batsman
Joe Root has regained the num-
ber-one batting ranking, while
Pakistan s wrist spinner Yasir Shah
has become the second highest-
ranked bowler in the world.
Root scored 88 and 71 against
Pakistan in the Dubai Test, which
has helped him reclaim the top
spot from Australia captain Steven
Smith.
Leg-spinner Yasir achieved the
number-two ranking for the first
time in his career picking up eight
for 180 in Pakistan s 178 runs vic-
tory.
He has earned points which has
enable him to leapfrog the pace
trio of England s James Anderson
and Stuart Broad, and New
Zealand s Trent Boult.
South Africa s Dale Steyn
remains the number one ranked
bowler.
In the ICC Test Team Rankings,
there is no change to Sri Lanka
and West Indies rankings as they
continue to hold seventh and
eighth positions, respectively.
The rankings were released fol-
lowing tests matches in Colombo
and Dubai. (CMC)
MAVERICK MARISA
T&T football to get home---Tim Kee
President of the TTFA Raymond Tim Kee, right, and Media Officer
Shaun Fuentes, addressing the media during yesterday's Press
Conference at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, in Mucurapo.
T&T Woman Artistic Gymnast (WAG) Marisa Dick, delivers her Balance
Beam performance with an original mount at the 2015 Artistic Worlds
Qualifications, which earned her the honour of having a new skill entered in
the Federation Internationale De Gymnastique (FIG) Code of Points in her
name---a first for T&T. Dick is seen here performing on the uneven bars as
she takes part in the women's qualification competition at the World Artistic
Gymnastics championships in Glasgow, Scotland, last Friday. AP PHOTO
Minister Smith warns
NSO's: Get your house
in order or no funding
Windies captain achieves
career best ranking Jason
Holder